Rebel concern at Sierra Leone tribunal

Captured rebel leader Foday Sankoh's trial moves closer

The Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone have expressed concern over a United Nations' plan for a war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone.

The court would prosecute those accused of atrocities during the country's 10-year civil war.

Members of the Security Council welcome these developments as a positive step forward in bringing justice to the people of Sierra Leone,

Wang Yingfan

But rebel spokesman Gibril Massaquoi told the BBC they had not been consulted about the tribunal and did not know what criteria would be used to arrest suspects.

The rebels have been blamed for killing and maiming innocent civilians in the country's civil war.

And rebel leader Foday Sankoh, who is in government custody, is believed to among about 20 people who will be tried by the tribunal.

The court is to be financed through voluntary contributions, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week told the Security Council he wanted countries which have pledged money to provide it within 30 days.

It has taken a year for Mr Annan's plans, first approved a year ago, to reach this stage and he has already scaled back the size of the tribunal after a poor donor response.

Fighting

Meanwhile the American-based group, Human Rights Watch, has called on the United Nations to speed up its deployment of peacekeepers in eastern Sierra Leone where fighting between rival militias has increased.

Rebels deliberately maimed many civilians

The group says at least 45 five people have been killed in clashes between pro-government militias, who operate in traditional hunting groups known as "kamajors" or "donsos", and RUF rebels.

They say the fighting is the most serious for several months, with numerous atrocities committed against civilians.

Much of the fighting in Sierra Leone is caused by territorial rivalries over diamond mines.

Peacekeepers

The United Nations has its largest peacekeeping force in the world in Sierra Leone and although it recently began deploying into the mainly rebel-held east of the country it is not yet fully operational there.

UN officers are supervising a demobilisation programme

But our West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle says that what is particularly worrying about this recent fighting is that it appears not to be controlled by the high commands of the rival groups, both of which have said they are committed to a ceasefire and disarmament.

A spokeswoman for the UN in Freetown said the number of peacekeepers in the area around the eastern diamond-mining town of Koidu was being increased from about 500 to more than 1,500 troops, and that it was hoped that this deployment would be completed in the next few weeks.

In the most serious single attack by the pro-government militiamen, on a village just north of Koidu, 21 people died.

A man shot three times by the attackers but who survived described how his mother, father, sister and son had all been killed in the raid.

A pro-government militiaman said the raid was in retaliation for an earlier rebel attack on their positions.